The Truth Read
by Maywynn
Summary: At the Guild: When Dannyl witnesses a crime, he is forced to submit to a truth read to prove the crime. Accidently, Administrator Lorlen sees memories of Dannyl and Tayend; proof that he is a lad...
1. The Trial

**Chapter One – The Trial**

"And did you see Lord Andor commit the crime?" Administrator Lorlen turned to Dannyl.

"Yes." Dannyl swallowed. "I did."

"You therefore are a witness?"

"Yes." Dannyl tried to stop himself trembling. He knew what would follow.

"I will perform the read." Administrator Lorlen came to stand in front of Dannyl.

Dannyl took a deep, measured breath and closed his eyes, trying to calm his nerves.

Administrator Lorlen placed his palm on Dannyl's forehead, and entered his mind.

Lorlen found himself in a sunny, airy room with multiple pictures on the wall; this was Dannyl's mind. There were multiple closed doors, which held behind them close-guarded secrets and memories of Dannyl's.

_- Here_, _this is the memory_.

_- Thank you._

Lorlen entered the memory, and watched it. It did indeed prove that Lord Andor did commit the crime, and was a much more severe crime than they had previously guessed. When all that was left of the memory was fading away, Lord Dannyl's mind violently switched to another memory, much more powerful and important to him.

_Dannyl looked down at the scholar. "It's so difficult for me. This feels so natural, and yet it appears so wrong. If the Guild found out what I was doing, then I would lose my status and respect. We have to be careful Tayend." The scholar patted Dannyl on the back. _

"_Don't worry, Dannyl. We can work this out." _

- The scene changed. -

_Dannyl was healing Tayend of the knife wound, worry filling his mind. When he read Tayend's mind, he was saddened by it. He pretended not to know. After all, it did not change his view of Tayend. _

- The scene changed. -

"_So it really isn't a physical problem?" Tayend asked. "They can't sense it?"_

"_No." Dannyl replied. "There's nothing wrong with us." _

- The scene changed -

_Dannyl and Tayend were kissing. _

The flood of memories stopped abruptly, and Lorlen opened his eyes with a jolt. He saw Lord Dannyl, trembling slightly, with a downcast expression on his face. He pulled his hand from Dannyl's temple and turned to the rows of magicians. "Lord Andor is guilty." He said no more.

Lord Dannyl returned to his bench, his face pale and drawn.

As other matters were dealt with by the Director of the Guild, Administrator Lorlen allowed his mind to wander.

Lord Dannyl was what was known as a 'lad' or a 'gold-mine', and feared it being revealed. He was careful with what he did, and was clearly in love with another man. He did not feel ashamed by his behaviour, seeing it as natural.

Lorlen knew about the rumours about Dannyl's assistant/scholar and his inclinations. The Guild and the Elyne court were under the impression that Dannyl did not know. He thought back to the rumours about Dannyl-the-novice. He sighed. _Do I pretend I do not know, or do I confront him about it? Is it really a crime, and so should I remove his post as Ambassador for it? What will the Guild's reaction be?_ He looked over to the ranks of magicians, and noted Lord Dannyl's face, his head bowed, his expression solemn. _I will say nothing. This is his personal matter. Provided it does not affect his work, I will not worry. I need to discuss this with him though. _


	2. Confrontation

_With thanks to LauraScofield for BetaReading this for me! Cheers Laura. _

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><p><strong>Chapter Two – Confrontation<strong>

_I almost gave myself away. What was I thinking?_ Dannyl sighed, and continued to restlessly pace his quarters. Panic seized him; _what if Lorlen _had_ seen Tayend and I? This would be the end of my post of Ambassador and my time with Tayend!_ Dannyl continued to pace the room, _what if—_

A sharp knock on the door woke Dannyl out of his revere. He stopped in front of the door, and took a deep breath. _It's just Rothen, enquiring after my health and the progress on my experiments._ He took another deep breath, and opened the door, and struggled to control his surprise. He bowed low, and ushered the magician in.

"Administrator Lorlen, this is a...surprise to have you here."

Dannyl swallowed audibly, and cleared his Alchemy experiments off a chair so that Lorlen could sit.

He sat on his bed, and tried to ignore the crunch of parchment beneath him. He leaned forward. "What brings you here?"

Lorlen's face became graver still. "I have seen...memories...of you and another _man_, kissing."

Dannyl choked. He leant back against the wall, and covered his face with his hands so that Lorlen could not see the beginning of tears in his eyes.

"Explain please." The Administrators voice was devoid of emotion.

With his voice muffled by his hands, Dannyl began. "There never was anything between myself and that novice, but I realised that if the way that I felt was disgraceful, then I had better not feel anything at all." The words poured out in a torment. "I began to heal myself, removing any emotion I had. Then, when I went to Armje with...with Tayend, I realised that..." He took a deep, shuddering breath. "There was an...incident, I lost almost all of my power. I had to face the idea of what I was, of the feelings I was repressing and Tayend...helped me and...that was love. I found Tayend, and we didn't care, not for a while. We tried to be careful...but..." He removed his hands from his face.

Lorlen was surprised to see the glint of tears in his eyes.

"It feels right." Dannyl said earnestly, leaning forward. "It doesn't feel _perverted_ or wrong." He leant back wearily. "And yet people think it is."

"So you love him?" Lorlen asked, in spite of himself.

"Yes...yes I do. I love Tayend very much. I really do. Oh...Tayend." His voice turned into a whisper, and a tear dribbled down his cheek.

Heavy silence filled the room.

Then Dannyl whipped the tears off his face, and looked at Lorlen. "So what are you going to do?"

Surprised for a second, Lorlen responded "Do about what?"

"About me!" Dannyl's face was drawn, but defiant and angry. "About what I am. Are you going to strip me of my position, make a laughing stock of me, and leave me to rot in a corner of the Guild?" His voice rose steadily, but when he was done, his energy spent, he leant back and closed his eyes. "That's the first time I've been angry in a long while." He said quietly.

"I'm not going to do anything."

Shocked, Dannyl looked at him.

"Why not?"

"Because...because you seem happy, because you do your position well. Because...your work as Ambassador had been good, and...it should continue." The Administrator swallowed.

Dannyl ran a hand through his hair. He remained where he was as the Administrator stood up and turned to leave. "Please," Dannyl's voice cracked, "Don't tell. I would hate if there was no reason why," He paused again, "Why I lost respect, or my position. I couldn't bear it if it was my fault that I couldn't see Tayend, ever again. If I lost him."

Lorlen left silently, closing the door behind him.

Dannyl remained where he was for a long time, not moving, only remembering.


End file.
